Back when I was a young adult and could wear standard sizes, I loved thrift stores' clothes. So fun to create clever outfits. I wish my mom had been willing to buy clothes with a history, clothes with a mystery..." instead of being thrifty in a way that decreed new clothes but only enough to get through the week.

This book is almost perfect. I love that the girl can do enough sewing to raise (or lower) hems, apply applique, or tuck a waist. I love how sweet she is with her baby brother. I love that she's girly, but also imaginative, adventurous, and unafraid of noise and dirt, too. I also see no reason a boy couldn't enjoy this story as well.

And of course with modern concerns about being 'green' and the movement to repurpose as well as recycle, we have even more reasons to love old clothes, old table wear, old linens, old toys, old books, and old furniture than simple thrift.

Every library should have a copy of this book. But, ironically, every family should not... unless they bought it used....." ( )

Wikipedia in English

I like old clothes, / Hand-me-down clothes, / Worn outgrown clothes, / Not-my-own clothes. . . . Originally published by Knopf in 1976 (with illustrations by Jacqueline Chwast), this poem—an exuberant celebration of hand-me-down clothes—is just as relevant and accessible today as it was over 30 years ago. Children's Poet Laureate Mary Ann Hoberman offers a bouncy, fun-to-read-aloud text and a refreshingly agreeable, resourceful protagonist who likes old clothes for their "history" and "mystery." Illustrator Patrice Barton brings new, contemporary life to the poem, with an adorable little girl and her younger brother playing dress-up, making crafts, and happily treasuring their hand-me-downs.